Deception
by Dowely
Summary: Rewrite of the story secrets. The problem with Deborah Evens wasn't that she was human but that she was an anomaly to the human race which made her a target for not only Weyland Industries but the strange alien hunters.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: So here is the first chapter of the rewrite for those of you who have read Secrets. Warning for gore and foul language ect. Enjoy and please review and tell me what you think.**

They shaved her head and she watched helplessly as the locks of her own long brown hair tumbled to the perfectly sterilized linoleum in a farewell dance. It was a way to dehumanize in the eyes of both the scientist and herself but knowing did nothing to stop it from having its intended effect. She was held in place by two very large men as a third man worked, stripping her of not only her hair but her dignity. Deborah wanted to cry; it was the only part of her that wouldn't grow back, wouldn't regenerate as fast as the rest of her for the simple reason that hair wasn't technically alive. That didn't mean it was any less part of her though.

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"She's amazing isn't she?" The head doctor of the facility commented and even through the glass wall Deborah could hear his thick voice penetrating her eardrums. She pulled away bringing her knees to her chest and burying her face into her soft flesh all the while imaging the many sadistic deaths she would inflict upon the very man who spoke about her.

"Hmm." The other person agreed, this time a blonde woman with her hair primed into perfection. "What is she? She looks human."

"Doesn't she?" The man shrugged. "Nobody knows. As far as anyone can tell she's a mutation of us, perhaps somewhere in the chromosomes." Deborah shuttered feeling both of them observing her like two vultures waiting for her corpse to rot. "Look, she's already growing back her hair and it's only been a week since we shaved it off!"

"Amazing!" The female agreed. "Where ever did you find such a gem in this shit world?"

"Walking the streets, shopping of all things! I saw her get shot in the leg by some stray soldier and watched as she got up and walked away."

"Fascinating, Weyland will be pleased." The woman added. "How much can she take?" The man chuckled to her question as he turned his head and pushed up a pair of thick glasses back into place as they slipped down his nose.

"We're about to find out." He sneered and Deborah could hear the sinister intentions behind his words.

"Great, send me a detail report, oh and Marcus?"

"Yes?" He responded following her with his eyes as she began to walk out of the room her high heels clicking against the perfectly white linoleum.

"Don't tell Weyland the specifics of our experiments, report only to me." The blonde said her hand resting on the door frame as she gave a sickly smile.

"Why?" Dr. Marcus asked.

"Weyland wouldn't like what we're doing. He's into humane treatment of all of his specimens. Let him believe that this woman is a volunteer."

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Wicked black leather restraints held Deborah to a solid brink wall and she struggled against the bounds as if her very life depended upon the action in which it did. She felt sweat pouring down her limbs as the panic took control of her mind and she frantically strained her muscles to break the leather.

Just ten feet away from her bound body sat the long ominous snout of a horrid gun that looked like it belonged in the middle of a bloody corpse infested battle field. Sprawled in bright gold lettering across one of the many nozzles of the miniature gatling gun was "The Lucy" an obvious pet name.

"Fire soldier." Marcus, the man whom Deborah had come to loath said to a different man behind the powerful weapon that Deborah had never seen before. He looked to be a normally strong confident male dressed in a high ranking uniform but for the first time he faltered looking at the doctor as if he was purely insane. It was probably the first time in a very long time that the soldier actually looked human instead of being just another pawn.

"Sir?" He questioned turning his head to look once again at the bound helpless woman. Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked at him, pleading for her very life with her emerald green eyes. He didn't want to kill her, he wasn't a heartless monster. She shook her head slowly giving a slight whimper as she continued to beseech the man to help her.

"No, please god no! Don't do it please!" She whimpered and the soldier once again brought his attention back to the doctor who stood unfazed as if there wasn't a pathetic and half naked woman pleading for her life. The soldier ran a scarred hand across his short spiky blond hair in what appeared to be a common nervous habit.

"You have your orders soldier." Marcus commanded but the soldier once again stood his ground and for once questioned the authority that controlled him.

"With all due respect, sir." The soldier sneered. "I'm precisely that, a soldier, not your executioner that will murder a helpless woman strapped to a wall!"

"I'm pretty sure the safety of your daughter will change that thought of defiance." The doctor hissed and by the look on the soldier's face, Deborah knew that the doctor had won and she was doomed. "Plus," he continued. "She not exactly human anyway." The scientist finished and the soldier looked at her with an expression of pure grief, stricken upon his features and she nodded at him understanding his situation. It was either her or his family and she was certain that he would pick his family. Anybody would have made the same choice if given the situation and it wasn't a choice that Deborah could exactly respect but it was a decision that she couldn't hate the man for. She heard his footsteps as he walked behind the large gun. She opened her eyes and brought her head up to meet the newly dubbed executioner's eyes.

"I will do this." The soldier hissed as he turned his head to the doctor. "but if you ever threaten my family again, I will throw you in the tank with those black serpent things." He warned all seriousness tainting his face. He met Deborah's broken eyes once again and he sighed. "I'm sorry!" He whispered and even through the distance she caught his words.

"I understand." She muttered but her voice was devoid of all and any emotion, her eyes equally faded and dead. Deborah watched in utter terror as he placed his hand on the weapon, the screen on his side illuminating with the recognition of his genetic code, the blue light bathing the skin of his right arm. It would only recognize his DNA sequencing and for once the high ranking soldier wished that "Lucy" would fail him for the first time in his entire career of using "her".

"Lucy" awoke with a small hum as the barrel slowly began to rotate with a steady whir. Deborah couldn't close her eyes even if she had wanted to. Fear possessed her very mind and she whimpered despite herself. The soldier aimed with the targeting system feeling the beat of his heart similar to the first time he had killed but that was way back in the middle of the battlefield against another man aiming a standard issue military rifle at his body. Back then he didn't have a choice. It was kill or die, the equation to nature. This, on the other hand, was nothing like war. No. This was cold blooded murder no matter how you looked at it, even if she was human or not. Disgusting and as appalling as this act was, the soldier would make it as painless as possible; he would go straight for the heart.

There was a way out of this whole situation and Deborah knew it. The very thought was fleeting and tempting but she feared the consequences less she be caught if her escape plan failed. She dreaded the very thought of what would happen if the horrid doctor and his cohorts realized the other delightful secret she had been able to keep for the longest time. Deborah would escape eventually she knew it but it would need careful calculation and a devotion to patience. When she did finally escape her horror entrapment she would make sure to get everyone who had wronged her and destroy them in the most horrific way imaginable saving the good doctor, Marcus for last.

The ever faithful gun warmed up to operable conditions and the soldier took no time to commit the Devil's deed. He squeezed the pressure sensitive trigger and felt the gun kick with each release of her rapid fire. He wanted to close his eyes but found it better to watch his action first hand.

Deborah felt the thick bullets tear through her skin, flesh, and organs before she even heard the gun discharge. There wasn't even enough time for her to release the scream that had built up in her throat as the bullets entered her torso and exited the other side, painting the wall with her bright red blood. Her seemingly lifeless carcass fell to the ground as the restraints that held her wrist disintegrated against the excessive firepower.

The gun's barrel slowed and there was nothing but the ringing in the two men's ears as they stood in the silence. The doctor gave a delayed chuckle as he hastily pushed his glasses up his stub nose, his eyes wide from witnessing the horror that "Lucy" could do. The soldier on the other hand even at the age of twenty-six was a veteran to the horrid sights and sounds of the battle field. He let his head fall as the anger burned inside his mind and he spit with disgust at both his actions and the demented man who stood beside him. He turned to him briefly and with a killers glare the soldier spoke.

"I don't care what monsters we have in this facility, you're the worst out of all of them." He spat almost feeling the venom burn his tongue as he looked at the man with complete loathing. "I hope you get what coming to you for this and I beg that it's as slow and painful as you deserve!"

Deborah was aware of the two men talking, aware of the soldier hissing his hatred out upon that man whom she loathed more than possible for any human being. She felt the air enter her lungs and the pain of even existing tear through her entire body as her cells hastily replicated. At the moment, she wasn't entirely sure which hurt more; being shot with a heavy artillery mini gatling gun or the feeling every one of her cells going through the process of rapid regenerating and the many holes within her flesh sealing. She was lucky that the bullets went through her instead of embedding themselves deep within her bone and organs and she knew it. Now at least her body could heal without the irritation of having to remove the bits of lead from her muscle by hand.

Her fingers twitched briefly, testing her new found freedom but she dared not move more, less alert the Doctor that she was actually still in the world of the living. Deborah heard one of the men take a hesitant step towards her corpse but she kept her body slumped against the brick wall, holding her breath.

"Is she dead soldier?" Dr. Marcus asked as he took yet another step closer to her bloody body.

"Her chest looks like Swiss cheese. I'm pretty sure she's not living anymore. Which knowing what god awful tortures you probably had planned for that poor woman; it's probably for the best." The doctor continued to close the distance between her and him and she could practically hear his thick breathing but he still wasn't close enough.

"You shot her restraints off, soldier!" He accused but the soldier gave an irritated grunt not really caring about the clearly mental case doctor.

"Lucy's not known for her accuracy. She a spray and pray kinda girl." He muttered resting his hand upon the weapon.

Deborah continued to hold her breath feeling the presence of the doctor as he kneeled, nudging her sprawled leg with his foot. She could feel his eyes scrutinize her body and she struggled against the fire in her lungs as she fought to remain the perfect image of death.

"Damn." The doctor called out turning his head to give the soldier a brief glance. "I think she might actually be dead."

Deborah opened her eyes and watched as the doctor turned his body back to face her, his stubbly face only inches away from her grasp. His brown eyes met her own green eyes and his widened with fear as the realization of her being alive, struck him. Her lips curled in a feral yet wicked smile as she met his horrified face.

She knew she would enjoy this as she wretched her arm out grasping a hold of his perfectly white lab coat, pulling her broken body up to meet the his face. The doctor screamed as he failed his arms only succeeding in sending his mass falling backwards giving Deborah the leverage she needed to continue the assault. She lifted her free hand high in the air like a predatory bird before slamming it down impaling her first finger deep into the doctor's eye. A mixture of both blood and fluid from his inner eye splattered her snarling face as he howled in complete agony.

As Deborah succeeded to rip the doctor's eye out of the socket she expected the soldier to be on her at any second, pulling her from her kill but that was not the case. Instead the doctor managed to get his feet under her chest, kicking her off of him. She hit the ground with an agony filled thud as the doctor pulled his bleeding pathetic carcass away from Deborah's reach. She attempted to follow him but instead fell to the ground in a weak lump of bleeding flesh because her spinal cord wasn't fully through with regenerating and currently in two pieces.

The soldier stood, leaning his weight against the familiar form of Lucy as the doctor was being ferociously attacked by the woman who had miraculously survived being shot with a gun that could rip hordes of armor wearing soldiers to shreds. A small smile tainted his lips as he watched her get her revenge and as the woman granted his wish that he had made only seconds ago.

Deborah raised her head meeting the soldier's eyes as he watched her. He made no move to restrain her or help the bleeding figure of Dr. Marcus as he flailed about on the floor like a wounded fish.

"Though this will never make it right," The soldier began his face solemn as he addressed her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that you would survive that." He continued as she fought to remain propped up on her arms, her back twisted in an unnatural position. Before he could say anything the door behind him burst open and in swarmed many lower ranked soldiers like a horde of insects.

As a few of the soldier branched off and began the task of escorting her back into her enclose she saw the frail form of the doctor glaring horrified as his own eye watched him from across the room. The wall behind him was riddled with many holes exposing the steel layer behind the wall giving only more proof that Deborah Evens was not a normal woman.

The several remaining soldiers turned to the high ranking James Pollen who leaned heavily against "Lucy" and who watched the entire situation with a calm only rival by a statue.

"Sir?" The first addressed him requesting his orders. He grunted in response before pulling his weight of the gun to stand straight.

"Make sure the girl makes it to her room without further harm oh and I guess make sure the doctor makes it to the infirmary without bleeding everywhere." He hissed as he turned hearing the soldier solute him as he walked away. His men were loyal only to him not to that pathetic doctor and the doctor would soon learn his mistake in believing otherwise.

**Author's end note- Here you have it, the first chapter and I will admit it was fun writing about "The Lucy". For this I actually look up video of what Gatling guns looked like when they fire to be accurate but holy shit sticks are they a frightening gun. As far as I know there isn't a gun named "Lucy" but it wouldn't surprise me. And another thing James wasn't intended to be an important character or be named for that fact but as I was writing him he kind of stuck on me. Weird. Anywho opinions, do you like it?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Straight off I want to thank the people that beta this. Without them this wouldn't be as awesome. I must admit I was hesitant to have a beta, mostly because of pride but being a writer I think you need to learn to brush of pride. Well … in my case punch it a few times in the face than throw it the rabid beast named humility. :P Seriously though, if you're writer I would highly recommend getting a beta. Anyway enough of this sleep deprived rambling. Enjoy and please don't refrain from giving a review. I would love to know how Deceptions is being received. **

Deborah had the mind of a hunter and she knew it as she paced the boundaries of the thick glass with obviously evil intentions. She tested her weight against the glass several times taking many long steps back before charging full speed only to rebound off of it with a pained yelp and further loss of her dignity. After numerous attempts and a dislocated shoulder later, she had stopped her fruitless endeavor and favored pacing more out of boredom than agitation. She had not seen nor heard another human being after she had been tossed into her cage like a sack of flour only to lie uselessly until her body had healed.

It was perhaps half a day later that the now deformed face of Dr. Marcus slithered its way to the glass of the cage adorned with a new fancy black eye patch. Deborah smirked as she strutted to the glass meeting the doctor face to face. He scowled as he looked upon the smirking woman.

"Oh I'm sorry." She called out, feigning a look of innocence while trying to hold the laughter that threatened her calm reserve. "I forgot, your eyes don't grow back like mine can." She paused letting a wide grin stain her face as she watched his expression sour even further. "If I had known that I would have ripped both of them out." Deborah finished with a sly smirk, pulling her hand up to the glass and proudly flipping the pretentious doctor off.

Deborah watched as his plump lip curled back in an enraged snarled as his cold brown eyes looked her over with a hostility that could not be described with words. This only served to further Deborah's amusement over the man that was now beyond pathetic in her eyes and she voiced this opinion with a hearty laugh.

"You'd be best to close that mouth of yours." He hissed, spit flying unattractively from his open mouth and landing on the glass. "You are nothing but a subject here. You don't even have a name to us. After we're done with you; you won't even know the definition of defiance." Deborah gave a chuckle in response, a low dark sound that resonated within the room as her vibrant emerald green eyes met his brown ones and she leaned in, her forehead pressing against the glass as she bared her pearly white teeth in a wicked snarl.

"I assure you doctor." she spat in a venomous a tone that instinctively made Marcus's skin crawl for reasons he could never comprehend and his heart beat increased as adrenaline was pumped into his system. "You will never take my defiance. I will get out of this cage and when I do, I will be standing over your quivering body and you will feel it as my jaws crush your skull." She warned and even though he did not understand what she meant by her jaws crushing his skull, the warning still had its intended effect and the confidence was wiped from the doctor. He faltered and his mouth fumbled for words as his mind refused to work fully. He huffed while he visibly inflated his chest before turning on his heels and storming out of the room with his pride severely damaged.

"We'll see." He muttered and Deborah only chuckled louder while sneering at Marcus's retreating form. She watched the door that the hated doctor had left from for some time before slinking to the very back of her cell to sit with her back pressed against the sterile white concrete. Deborah felt the chill on her back from the cold wall and for once it felt good on her sore arching muscles. She pulled her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees as she let her eyes slowly close. Deborah needed to rest after heeling from such a fatal wound. It took a lot from her to recover like that and the involuntary action usually left her in pain and exhaustion.

It was probably the most she had slept in a good while but when she awoke she was mildly aware of the presence of another human being watching her from behind the glass. At first she was convinced it was the doctor returning to once again have his pride damaged by her but as she turned her head she saw the familiar form of the blonde soldier still dressed in his high ranking uniform, leaning his body against the opposite wall with his arms crossed. He wasn't looking at her and seemed to be in his own little world even as Deborah pulled her body off the harsh ground to greet the soldier.

"What are you doing here soldier?" Deborah called out as leaned against the glass with her arms folded mimicking his pose. The soldier stood removing his body from the concrete as he turned and crossed the distance to stand before the glass that separated her from him.

"James, please. I've been called soldier enough times to forget my own name." He said brushing a hand through his short spiky hair.

"Yeah?" She muttered. "Well at least you still get acknowledged as a human being. Me, I get the endearing title of specimen or if I'm lucky subject." Deborah exclaimed mockingly with a broad sarcastic smile. James choked out a laugh abruptly, a gesture in which the often serious man hadn't done in years.

"Well let's put an end to that, shall we? James Pollen." The soldier offered giving her a grin that enhanced his boyish features. Given the circumstances, Deborah might have thought the man to be handsome as she studied his facial features with his slight stubble and high cheek bones. She returned the gesture giving him a broad smile.

"Deborah Evens and sorry for my manners," She joked as she brought her hand up knocking on the glass with the back of her knuckle. "I would shake your hand but, well this kinda gets in the way."

"That's alright Deb. After what you did to that doctor I must admit I'm not too keen on the idea."

"Well yeah, that was just a friendly little encounter." She mocked, her green eyes holding a fierceness that revealed her true intent. "When I get out of here…" She drifted off her expression one of pure malice as her mind played the scenario.

"I assume you have a way to do that then?" He asked and Deborah shrugged her face losing all cruelty as it was replaced with consideration and deep thought.

"Tell me this," She began meeting his eyes with her own. "What if you were in the same situation as me and had a way out but that way out meant possibly losing what humanity you have left. Would you do it? Would you risk becoming a monster just so you can taste freedom once again?" The soldier paused, seemingly rolling this concept around in his mind before answering.

"I wouldn't know." He answered truthfully. "I sold my humanity to the Devil when I was sixteen. I don't even know the meaning of the word."

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Marcus leaned his head on his hand as he glared at the woman with a look of pure irritation. He had tried practically everything he could think of to kill her, including but most certainly not limited to, drowning, electrocution, decapitation, evisceration, poisons, and even a good old practical shot gun blast to the head but nothing had worked. The doctor couldn't even take a DNA sample because any cell, appendage, or limb would decay at such an alarming rate that, before anyone could even get a brief moment to examine said sample all that would be left was, for lack of a better term, a thick black sludge of unrecognizable goop.

To add an even greater insult to injury, the woman sat with her legs crossed, back against the cement with both hands held leisurely in the air, flipping off the doctor directly with the widest smirk boldly plastered on her face. To top off her enjoyment, her attempts were visibly getting to the doctor.

Deborah watched as his mouth moved while he muttered inaudible curses and she could only guess at what he was saying.

"Maybe if I hang her." He said to nobody in particular as the seemingly immortal woman continued to hold her insulting pose for what now was running on ten minutes. Granted, Deborah knew it was beyond childish to act in such a way, but after six straight months of outright torture, she had reasoned that moral ethics had long since needed to be kicked out of the door. Plus, she considered, after what she was constantly put through it was an amazing factor that she was still reasonably sane, as debatable as that was.

"Still alive?" A voice interjected and the doctor jumped feeling his whole body tense as he swirled around to see the familiar important blonde woman from before when the subject had just been caught. She leaned lightly to her left side with her hand on her hip as she looked over Deborah who hadn't changed her pose even with the intrusion. The blonde looked down at the doctor's face before giving a surprised gasp.

"Marcus, what the hell happened to your face?" The woman demanded and the doctor's expression soured even further as he turned away from the attractive blonde back to Deborah.

"You're looking at it." The man grunted out between clenched teeth. The blonde slowly nodded turning her head to look out of the door before bringing her attention back to the doctor.

"And you seem to have fewer scientists and the ones that are hanging around seem to be a bit damaged?" She questioned with concern evident in her tone.

"All her." He muttered continuing his task of glaring at the woman whom he spoke about with such an audible loathing.

"You didn't sedate her?" The woman asked but her tone seemed to accuse rather than inquire. The Doctor gave a low grating snarl as his irritation increased.

"Of course I sedated her!" The man grumbled feeling insulted. "But apparently every time she's put under her metabolism increases at a freak rate and the sedation only lasts ten minutes at the bloody most! And it's not like she's the most cooperative subject!" Marcus hissed bringing his hand to rub his temple but mistakenly brushing the course material of his eye patch which only made him curse louder. The woman nodded slowly, looking at the flustered doctor. She had never seen him so stressed in his life.

"She's human." The doctor continued, waving his arms absentmindedly in his rant. "There's no doubt about that. From what I've gotten from her tissue samples, which is only possible for a millisecond at the most, is that she is human. She is just a freak mutation! Something in her genetic coding is responsible for it and there is no possible way to break it down because her damn cells necrotize the second they are removed from the original body."

"Perhaps if we breed her?" The blonde offered but even this little suggestion only seem to frustrate the doctor further.

"Not possible."

"Not possible? Why?" She repeated looking at the man with one eyebrow raised.

"She's damn well sterile, which would make sense considering that she can't die. Natural selection is obviously not working against her. She's quote un quote perfect, and there is now no need to pass on her genetics because there is no risk of her species dying out. And even if we could breed her, we wouldn't know the probability of whatever's causing her rapid regeneration to pass on to her offspring!"

With amusement boldly splayed across her face, Deborah watched blonde and the doctor converse as she continued to hold her offensive pose. The blonde woman who quite frankly in Deborah's eyes dressed like a slut, shook her head slightly before turning her head to examine Deborah through the glass. Her brow furrowed as her blue eyes studied the captive woman.

"Doctor?" The blonde questioned, causing Marcus to turn his head to face her. "How long has she been doing that?"

"What?" He asked.

"That." The woman said pointing to Deborah who still had both hands held high flipping the two off.

"Oh, that." The doctor muttered bringing his watch to his face, studying the device for a few seconds before answering. "Running on eighteen minutes now."

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Deborah released an exhausted sigh as she once again stood defiantly before death like she had done for the better part of the past eight months. The thought frightened her like any normal being but there was something else quietly nestled behind the rational fear. She was tired of this, both emotionally and physically as the concept of more torture played out before her mind. Each time the doctor's methods became so much more elaborate and more disturbingly twisted that Deborah was finding it so much more difficult to keep her ever present defiance. It was becoming so terrible that every attempt that Dr. Marcus made at ending her life a little part of her would wish her genetic mutation would fail and she would never wake up again. She found it almost impossible to image that something so trivial and easy to achieve for everyone else to actually end her agony.

James leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, behind the doctor and the blonde woman and Deborah gave him a grim smile while the other two's attention was elsewhere. He returned the gesture weakly, his face showing stress that had never before been there. Every single time the blonde soldier had played the role of her executioner. The doctor always made it clear that if James should refuse to comply he ran the risk of some "accident" befalling his five year old daughter. Despite his reasons, Deborah was finding it harder to forgive the soldier and much easier to hate him like she hated the many others in this facility.

"You people disgust me." Deborah heard the soldier mutter as he often muttered before a usually heinous act. "You're not human." He cursed again but neither the doctor nor the woman paid him any mind as the two quietly whispered between themselves, discussing their newest plan.

"What about the damage to the cell?" The doctor asked the woman but the blonde only gave a wicked chuckle.

"This place?" She asked in a mocking tone. "This place can survive a downright nuclear war!"

"Well, in that case." The doctor responded but Deborah could no longer listen to their speech and instead turned her back to them to glare at the ever mocking concrete wall. She couldn't stand not knowing what her possible fate was, but even more she feared actually knowing what was going to happen to her. It was the few seconds that her mind actually was able to comprehend her fate that was the worst. It was best not to know.

The air in the cell seemed to thicken with premature sense of impending doom as Deborah both sensed and hear the movement in the other room.

"At the ready soldier." The doctor commanded and Deborah clenched her fist as she inhaled all of the air her lungs could possible contain. She turned to face the horrid creatures in human form and stared each one in the eyes including the blonde soldier, her personal executioner. She would look each and every one of them in the eyes as she died and they would know her suffering.

James held what seemed to Deborah to be a type of modified grenade. Similar to the infamous "Lucy", the grenade illuminated a steady sanitary blue at the recognition of his genetic code. His face was solemn and his eyes held such a self loathing that hatred Deborah was harboring for him retreated. The soldier was just as much of a monster as the rest but he was the attack dog ordered to kill. His only purpose in life was legal homicide. The soldier was both an innocent victim in this monstrous torture, just as much as he was a vicious perpetrator. Hating him was the same as hating the fox that broke into the chicken coop. It was a pointless waste of energy to despise something for its natural behavior. He was a soldier conditioned to kill. It was all he knew.

The small glass door opened and James tossed the circular device into the cell. It bounced once, the blue light blinking in slow succession before landing before her feet. She gave a weak chuckle as she bent down and picked up the device as the flashing light increased speed followed by a high pitched foreboding set of beeping.

"Shit." Deborah managed to say as they closed the glass. "Don't beat yourself up about this James. The worst that could happen is that I actually wake up from this." She joked as the beeping and the flashing both seemed to stop quite abruptly. All was silent for a split second before the small cell was filled with an unbelievably bright light and a searing heat that Deborah only felt for a brief moment before she felt nothing at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hello again. Took me long enough but I finally got the third chapter out. This chapter is p****articularly ****gory so if you're not cool with that than here's the warning. Anywho, I got some awesome fan art for chapter two and you can follow the link on my profile page to see it. She did an awesome job on portraying Marcus and made me really happy. :) Enough of that, enjoy the newest chapters, so far it is one of my favorites. **

Chapter 3

The glass of the cell was coated in a thick inch of gore that made it impossible to see inside. James stood looking on with shock slapped across his face. The doctor wavered, his jaw hanging open while the blonde stumbled outside of the room to paint her once lunch all over the hallway walls.

"There's no way she could have survived that." James muttered without meaning to even speak. He approached the cell with the sound of his boot clad feet hitting the floor mixing with the sound of the woman regurgitating from the hallway.

The imagery of a blender invaded James's mind as he grasped the door and inevitably pulled using most of his weight just to get it open. The smell was like nothing he had ever experienced before and it caused the veteran soldier to step back suppressing a gag that crept up on him. This wasn't his first time dealing with bodies. He considered himself very knowledgeable on the subject since he had been on the battlefield when he was a mere teenager. There was just something horribly unnatural in the smell alone; It was a thick pungent smell that was a mixture of corpses that had been left to rot in the humid sun for a week, singed flesh, and something else equally as dreadful but the man couldn't quite but his finger on at the moment.

All around him, dripping from the walls was what he assumed to be at some point the woman Deborah Evens. The once ruby red gore was slowly changing into a sickly brown almost black as it dripped from the walls creating the illusion of black rain.

"Is she alive?" The now timid sounding voice of the doctor piped up from the other side of the glass apparently too frightened to come any closer. Looking at the doctor he shook his head in disbelief as he stepped fully into the death chamber. A large gob of Deborah, about the size of a baseball, slopped from the ceiling landing directly onto his shoulder and the blonde soldier simply stared at the putrid blob of decomposing flesh. He suppressed a shuddered, briefly considering the option of joining the blonde woman in coating the hallway in predigested food.

"No." He muttered quickly brushing the Deborah gob off of his uniform that he decided would be incinerated the second he walked out of this room. "I honestly don't think she's alive anymore." There was a brief second where James heard Marcus shuffle nervously seemingly farther away from the glass room.

"Is there anything left of her?" The doctor asked still sounding considerably pathetic and farther away. James groaned audibly as he walked even further into the once sanitary cell, feeling his feet began to lose traction on the concrete because of the coated putrid gore.

What had once appeared to be limbs were now large piles of black tar like soup that leisurely oozed, spreading like a thick carpet across the concrete floor. The soldier glanced around the entire room but all he could see was the decomposing flesh. There was nothing; no indication that the once seemingly immortal woman was going to get up and walk away from this. James slowly turned to face the only exit, a defeated sigh leaving his mouth as he made to leave. As he reached the door a small dot of tan flesh caught his eyes and he swiveled around in disbelief as he reached his hand without any second thoughts and plunged it into the black liquid. He fished around the tar for a few seconds unsuccessfully attempting to convince himself that it wasn't the remnants of a dead woman. The very tips of his fingers brushed against something solid and he grasped it yanking it from the black decaying tar.

A small smile tainting the soldier lips as he wiped the lump of flesh clean with his uniform that so very long ago brought him pride. James couldn't damper the full hearted laughter that escaped his lips as he beheld the only part of Deborah that was left. It was a single finger apparently completely undamaged from the blast but more appropriately it was her middle finger. He knew if the woman could she would join him in his laughter.

XXXXX

It was the horribly bright light that awoke Deborah from her seemingly endless sleep and she groaned turning her head away from the unnatural glare that was trying to burn her eyes out from under her clenched eyelids. She groaned audibly as consciousness seeped into her brain and the ability to actually feel the air enter her lungs invaded her awareness. It was the first time in that she was truly able to feel her body before she was lost in that terrifying unending darkness that had surrounded her the second the grenade had gone off. Her body shuddered involuntary at the memory and all of her previous experiences flooded her thoughts.

A loud growl escaped her throat as she tore her more than unwilling carcass off of the sheets of what appeared to be a hospital style bed. Deborah rubbed her face feeling every single centimeter of her body scream out in agony. At the moment she wasn't quite sure what was worse; the steady throb of her muscles, the spinning and outright ache of her head, or the ever growing nausea that was threatening to make kneel over and loose her lunch over the side of the bed.

"Fuck." Deborah gritted out of her teeth without any true emphasis. "I'm alive." She continued with much of the same tone.

"Whoa!" A sweet almost young sounding voice spoke from where Deborah could not see. "Take it easy Miss; you've been out for a while!" The voice finished and Deborah could hear the sound of soft footsteps approaching her.

"A while?" She croaked out between her stomach lurching and the room spinning miserably.

"Yes. Take it easy now; you don't want to overdo it." The woman continued resting an unseen hand upon Deborah's shoulder.

"I feel like shit!" Deborah croaked, continuing to rest her heavy head in her hands in her head. "I think…" She began lifting her head from her hands to clench her stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick!" Deborah managed just as the strange unknown woman managed to shove a small grey trash bin into her lap just as a sickly black goop poured from her mouth.

The woman waited patiently with her hands intertwined just below her stomach as Deborah continued to empty the mystery contents from her stomach. When Deborah was finished she placed the small bin to her left, close enough for easy access should she need it again. Using the back of her arm she wiped her mouth cringing visibly from the inky like substance.

"How long is a while?" Deborah managed to growl, turning to face the strange woman for the first time. She was young, considerably young in Deborah eyes perhaps just out of trade school. Her black almost blue hair was tied tightly in an obsessive bun and her small lab coat was an unimaginable perfectly stainless white that defied logic. On her white coat on the left breast was a name tag that read "Sarah".

"I'm sorry." Sarah stuttered giving her an apologetic smile. "This is only my second week here." She finished as she grasped a small computer pad about the size of a clipboard. She fiddled with it for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Deborah.

"Here we go." She said. "About a year and a half." She finished and Deborah could not stop her jaw from dropping as she glared at the woman with a mixture of shock, bewilderment, and disbelief. She half expected a goofy grin to cross the nurse's face and this to be some sick form of humor.

"A year and a half?" Deborah fumbled but Sarah nodded with empathy painted on her features. "Eighteen months! I've been unconscious for eighteen months!"

"About eighteen months, yes." The nurse answered and Deborah opened her mouth to fight such logic but was suddenly overcome by a horrible nausea that almost brought her to her knees. She grabbed the bin and found herself with her head once again emptying the contents of her stomach.

"I've been dead for more than a year! How could there possibly be anything in my stomach!" She grumble cursing only once she was certain that there was no more inky black liquid in her stomach. "I haven't eaten in over a year!

"Actually." The nurse corrected. "That's not food but the leftovers from your regeneration process." She finished and Deborah could only stare at the woman incredulously for a good few seconds.

"That's lovely." She grumbled voice heavy with sarcasm. "Not only did I die but now I'm currently regurgitating the putrid rotting remains of my decomposing body. What a great thing to know."

Xxxxxxxx

It had taken quite a long time but Deborah had managed to regain all of her previous strength before she had been blown to smithereens. The doctor had left her alone in what she had assumed to be a new cell but honestly didn't care enough to truly find out. She speculated that the crazed doctor had done such to allow her to regain her former glory before once again subjecting her to his demented plans but she couldn't even guess at what his mind held.

Even James's visits had been sporadic over the month most likely because of guilt and partly because when he had come to escort her from the room she had first awaken from, Deborah had sent him crashing to the floor with a well aimed punch to the face leaving him with a rather large black eye and her with a few broken fingers. In all good sport though she had offered a hand to help him to his feet and allowed him to escort her to her new prison without much protest; though the soldier had to practically carry her because after assaulting him she could barely support her own weight from exhaustion.

XXXXX

James stood with his back straight, arms to his sides, and uniform perfect as the image of the all too important Bishop Weyland was displayed on the other side of the communication screen. He was alone with the man, as he was the only one requested.

"We have a situation in the Eastern Facility." Weyland stated simply giving a tired sigh as he spoke to the soldier. "It would appear that we have an infestation, level 2, and we are requesting some of your men considering that you and your team are the best at handling such circumstances.

"Level 2?" The soldier questioned. "That's pretty severe. The amount?"

"Estimated to be around fourteen. There shouldn't be a rise in number though; the queen has already been neutralized along with her clutch. Her drones on the other hand have survived and bested the posted military. I advise caution on this one, without their queen the drones are unorganized but by far more hostile than ever before."

"Understood." James stated giving a firm nod before continuing. "I don't want to take any chances on this one and will send my entire team. They should arrive in no less than two days and will be led by Stevens; he's the best at tactical combat and knows the Eastern facility like the back of his hand. I will stay back to make sure nothing happens here."

"Alright soldier. I have full faith that your men will take care of this. I will keep you updated." The elder man finished giving James a confirming nod.

"Thank you, sir." James replied straightening his posture and giving Weyland a strong salute holding the pose until the screen faded to black and the soldier was left in silence. He turned his back to the large screen lowering his head and allowing the wicked grin that he had been suppressing to taint his features. He had been waiting for this opportunity since he had first met Deborah Evens.

XXXXX

"I've got what is supposed to be food." A voice from the other side called out waking Deborah from her half sleep. She blinked slowly raising her head from atop of her knees to see the familiar blonde.

"James." She greeted giving him a weak smile. She hadn't seen the soldier since she had first awoken in the medical unit. It wasn't the best reunion considering she left him lying on the sanitized floor with a nasty black eye that didn't disappear for the longest time. Deborah honestly felt remorse for punching the soldier but in more than one way he deserved it.

"It's been a while Deb. How have you been holding up darling?" Deb sighed in response giving the man a brief shrug before resting her chin on the tops of her knees.

"As well as can be expected. It's getting harder though." She whispered loosing eye contact. "How long has it been? Since, well, since I have been in this horrible place?" Deborah asked and the soldier paused, calculating it in his head.

"Two years and six months." The man replied as if he was simply reading off a chart. Deborah groaned lowering her head further into her knees.

"Has it really?" Deborah muttered not really asking but instead clarifying the concept in her mind, solidifying it.

"It's strange." She continued looking anywhere but in the soldiers eyes. "I can't even tell if it's day or night here. Sometimes it feels like time doesn't exist. That I'm in some never ending paradox. Shit. If I believed in a hell, this," Deborah raised her arms gesturing all around her. "would be my hell. I'm living in my own personal hell." The blonde soldier ran a hand through his hair taking a single long stride closer to the glass.

"Yeah?" The man stated looking her over. "If this is hell than what did you do?" He asked. Deborah looked at him her green eyes studying him as she cocked her head to the side. "If this is hell." He clarified. "Than what did you do to land yourself in it?" She laughed raising her eyes to the ceiling before giving James a brief smile.

"I killed a man before." Deborah stated bluntly with a distinct lack of remorse that the soldier noted. "Two actually, in the most horrific way you could imagine." The soldier nodded but said nothing.

"Aren't you going to ask me if they deserved it? Why I did it?" Deborah asked bewilderment evident in both her tone and expression. The soldier said nothing at first but gave a slow but weak laugh, sliding a small card through a machine to the left of the door. It beeped once before the soldier pulled open the glass door placing the tray with the inedible food on the floor. He gestured with his hands seemingly unnecessary.

"Who am I to judge?" He said as he continued to move his right hand more than usual. "I've killed men, woman, and children all for the visage of holy intentions." Deborah stared at his hand as he moved it catching a streak of grey bundled in his palm. He placed the same hand casually resting on the inside of the door right over where the locking mechanism was. In confusion she caught his eye with her own and he winked briefly. "As you see Deb, I have no reasons to judge you for actions you did in the past or in the future, no matter if you lose your humanity in the process. In the end it's not the question of why you did but instead can you live with what you did?"

"Can you live with what you've done then?" Deborah asked as the soldier closed the glass door, a little green light blinking.

"Sometimes, but it's getting harder to bear the weight; harder to look at myself in the mirror. I like to think though that I survived to better somebody else, that I did all those horrible things to help somebody else. I hope to think that one day I will be able to free somebody. If that's the last thing I do before I die, than I will die a happy man." He turned his back to her but somehow Deborah knew he was smiling but it wasn't a happy expression.

"Good bye Deb." James said as he moved slowly to walk out of the room. Deborah wanted to say something to the blonde soldier but nothing came to mind. Instead she watched him walk away. Both Deborah and James knew that it was both the end and beginning of a new life for the two of them.

Deborah stood, feeling both terrified and excited. She knew what this entitled as she crossed the distance to the single glass door. It didn't take much to open the door, just a gentle push. The strange grey substance blocked the actual lock but not the sensor, fooling the entire system into thinking it was actually functioning. She stepped out past the door on her own accord for the first time feeling a mixture of sensations that she couldn't describe. For the first time in almost three years Deborah Evens was inches away from her own freedom. She grumbled feeling every single muscle in her body prepare to do something she hadn't done in six years.

**Author's end note: Anyone that's read Secrets knows exactly what Deb's about to do. ;p**


End file.
